1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a User Interface (UI) display method and apparatus for supporting touch-based input and, more particularly, to a UI display method and apparatus of a touch-enabled device for detecting a user's single hand grip state and displaying the UI configured in adaptation to the signal hand grip state to improve user convenience.
2. Description of the Related Art
Typically, conventional portable terminals are equipped with a touch panel and a camera so as to process and store an image taken by the camera and receive a user input for controlling the operation of the terminal and entering data by means of the touch panel. More recently, conventional portable terminals usually include text and speech recognition functions.
With the development of digital technologies, various user devices supporting communication and information processes on the move are commercialized in the form of mobile communication terminals, Personal Digital Assistants (PDA), electronic organizers, smartphones, tablet Personal Computers (PC), and the like. Such user devices have features such as, for example, video call, electronic organizer, video capture, email, broadcast playback, Internet access, music file playback, schedule manager, Social Network Service (SNS), messenger, dictionary, and games.
With the developments in touchscreen technology, touch-enabled user devices are becoming increasingly popular. The touchscreen serves as an input device as well a display device, making it possible for the user to make a touch gesture with a displayed object (e.g., finger, pointer, and pen) to generate an input signal for manipulating the touch-enabled device. The mobile device, equipped with the touchscreen, enables the user to intuitively make an input while viewing the screen such that even the user unfamiliar with the mobile device can use various functions of the device.
Meanwhile, the screen size of mobile devices such as smartphones is increasingly becoming larger. Certain mobile devices have screens that are larger than 5 inches, which makes it difficult for the user to manipulate the mobile device with one hand. Particularly for children or people having small hands, the single hand manipulation of the enlarged screen of the mobile device is almost impossible.
In order to overcome this problem, it can be considered to change the layout of the UI according to the hand gripping the mobile device, i.e. switching between a right hand-oriented UI for a right hand grip and a left hand-oriented UI for a left hand grip.
Conventional methods have proposed equipping the device with special means, such as sensors, for detecting the hand that grips the device and changing the UI according to the detected result. For example, U.S. Patent Publication No. US20100097331A1 proposes mounting sensors at the bottom left and right corners of the device to distinguish between left and right hand grips. Although this method can distinguish between left and right hand grips accurately, it has drawbacks such as increasing a manufacturing cost of the device, requiring extra device mounting space, and overhead for processing the sensors.
In another example, U.S. Patent Publication No. US20100085317A1 proposes mounting a tactile sensor at a side of the device to control the UI. However, this method also suffers from the same drawbacks mentioned above.